QUT Creative Lab presents: Eve of Dust and Cosmic Background alongside panel discussions which explore and demonstrate the embodied experience of humans in the digital age.

Each project affords a different perspective and experience for the audience, complimented by panel discussions which further interrogate robots, social media, and the possibilities of new technologies.

Digital Powerhouse is presented by QUT

Eve of Dust WED + THU from 6pm
(Steph Hutchinson, John McCormack, Adam Nash) is a collaborative performance and installation between a human and a robot. The artwork draws on both the possibilities and anxieties arising from the collaboration between humans and emerging intelligent systems personified in the robot. The artwork uses a Sawyer collaborative robot, an articulated 7-jointed robot arm that somewhat resembles a snake. The robot is able to be used in close proximity to humans, unlike most industrial robots, and will stop before causing physical harm. This enables human partners to physically interact with the robot to co-create a performance of dance and music.

Cosmic Background WED + THU from 6pm 
(Chris Handran) engages with the material hermeneutics of contemporary scientific practice, which operates beyond the parameters of human perception. The title of the work playfully references the contemporary scientific project of mapping ‘cosmic background radiation,’ a phenomenon that was first identified through attempts to eliminate static from radio broadcasts.

Performing Robots – Panel Discussion WED 7.30pm 
The QUT Creative Lab will present a panel discussion on Performing Robots. The Panel will be chaired by Prof Louis-Philippe Demers and include panellists; Professor Jonathan Roberts, Dr Steph Hutchison, Dr John McCormick and Dr Adam Nash. The panel will discuss robots increasing presence in our daily life and on stage. They will explore how their practices investigate the possibilities of new technological performers and the possibilities and implications for living with them. How do we collaborate? And, what might this collaboration between performing arts and robotics contribute to human-robot interaction and social robotics?

Art and Big Data – Panel Discussion THU 7.30pm 
QUT Creative Lab presents the Art and Big Data panel discussion. The panel will be chaired by Dr Benjamin Nicoll and include panellists Dr Kathryn Kelly, Dr Kiley Gafney, Dr Daniel McKewn and Professor Bree Hadley. The panel will discuss the way artists, audiences and society are making use of big data.